LOCATION: Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, Mexico
WEATHER: Sunny. High 90

Frida (our dog) has been sleeping in the extra bedroom the entire housesitting assignment. However, last night she must have sensed something was different, as she slept with Alexis.

Ray and Rose (our housesitting replacements) arrived with their things. We turned over keys, said goodbye to Lilia and Frida, etc, and then they took us to Guadalajara. A bit complicated – they were there to pick up a rental car for their son, and to drop off the current homeowner’s car. After all of that, they took us to Tlaquepaque. It is another one of Mexico’s “pueblos magicos”.

Alexis and I checked into the same B&B where George and I had stayed about 6 weeks ago. It is small 6 rooms – and they remembered me. A BIG room key!

Afer dumping our bags, we set off to explore charming Tlaquepaque.

First stop was the brewery where we refreshed ourselves from the heat.

Then, we stumbled upon a very nice, traditional restaurant where we decided to have a small lunch.

We did some window shopping (lot of tourist shopping opportunities available here), and made our way back to the plaza for the 3:30 mariachi show. It is in El Parian, a group of 15 restaurants/bars that circle a plaza with a bandstand where the musicians perform. They put on a very nice show, and it is free (although the drinks and food are more expensive here).

We shared a drink that is unique to Tlalaquepaque. It is called a cazuela, which simply means claypot dish.

It is made with grapefruit wedges, orange wedges, some juice, and a bit of salt. They serve it with a shot of tequila that you add to the drink. Pretty tasty!

Back to the B&B to rest and cool off. Then, I pushed us onward. We walked Tlaquepaque’s pedestrian street that has a lot of artwork, galleries, shops, and restaurants. We stopped at La Casa Luna, a very fancy restaurant, to sit at the bar and people-watch.

We decided to have a pizza for dinner and found a wood-fired pizza place with a rooftop terrace. We sat just a few feet from the Tlalaquepaque Cathedral and watched the sunset and sites below. Great view, delicious Smoked IPA, and Margherita pizza– not too bad!